


spell it out for me, good sir

by shuanime



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Idk what this is really, M/M, Museums, abstract art, and a joshua being joshua, but i saw a prompt and wrote it so, just a confused cheol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 15:16:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21120896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuanime/pseuds/shuanime
Summary: seungcheol winds up in an abstract art exhibition





	spell it out for me, good sir

**Author's Note:**

> hello cheolsoo nation we are hungry so i made... crumbs. enjoy!
> 
> saw this prompt @ google images dont judge me
> 
> unbeta'd! so if there are many many mistakesies... yell at me in the comments :D

If he’s being honest…

This just isn’t his scene.

Seungcheol feels small in a gallery of abstract paint on canvas, on a paper-ish kind of flat thing—on whatever surface it’s called. He doesn’t understand why there are blues over yellows, why there are bulky paint and flat paint (the bulky ones make him want to run his fingers over it if not for the huge DO NOT TOUCH sign), why the art just makes sense once he reads the name of the piece.

Now, while it’s a great wonder why a boring mister accountant such as himself (who thinks making tables and chairs is a fun activity) is at an exhibit for the strong, sophisticated brains, it’s quite a simple answer, really—Minghao gave him a free ticket, he has nothing to do on a Friday afternoon, he’s lonely, and he’s bored… and he’s not cultured enough for this.

Nonetheless, he’s in a museum of abstract pieces. He gets why the predominantly red and black one is called _Degenerate_. He gets why the olive and moss green one is called _Vile_. He gets _why_ because the colors speak for themselves… somehow. But that’s the extent of his comprehension, and it doesn’t go further than that.

When he steps backward and turns, too clumsy, his shoulder hits a man who’s visibly immersed in a painting. They wobble, but thankfully, no one fell, and they both regained balances fast as they lost it. Seungcheol bows repeatedly, but the man, with his firm button up and crisp slacks and shiny black shoes, only smiles kindly.

_Pretty_.

Seungcheol thinks he must be a smart man. A man who knows what he’s staring at, unlike him who just jumps from one art piece to another, trying to guess the name of the pieces until he gives up and just looks at the name plate.

The sign board outside said they’re free to interpret.

It shouldn’t have said that.

As Seungcheol looks up at the piece, he understands, a little, why the man is eyeing it intently.

There’s no name plate for this specific piece—it might be the only one nameless in the whole gallery—and it’s so huge it takes up the whole wall.

And… and Seungcheol thinks it looks like… like a thick snake of some sort.

“_Snake_…” he mumbles under his breath.

The man beside him probably hears him and giggles a little, and Seungcheol whips his head to him so quick he thinks he tore something. “I-I’m sorry,” he says, hand coming up to scratch at his nape. “I’m not really good at… art stuff and all.”

The man spares him a glance, smiling eyes curved at the ends delicately.

Like a cat.

Seungcheol might not know what this thick snake painting is, but he definitely knows a cat when he sees one.

This man is one.

“Well,” the man chuckles. He has a gentle voice to complement his kind eyes, Seungcheol thinks. This man is just… too beautiful. “I have a similar interpretation.”

Seungcheol badly wants to ask what. _What do you think? What is it? Is it a log? A stiff python? Is it… is it a corndog?_

But the cat-eyed man doesn’t speak anymore. He just stares ahead at the painting with scrutinizing eyes running over the piece.

Seungcheol feels weird to ask about what he thinks, so he just pretends to appreciate the gigantic corndog in front of him.

Through his periphery, he notices the man cross his arms over his chest and draw a deep sigh.

“You okay there?” Seungcheol uses the most casual tone he can muster.

The man nods calmly. “Yeah.”

“Oh. Cool.”

Seungcheol tries to hold it in, but he _really_ _really_ _really_ couldn’t—“What do you think this is? I-I mean, how would _you_ interpret it?”

Surprised, the man looks at him, and Seungcheol wants to take it back.

But he just really wants to know. He’s so curious, he’s going to spontaneously combust.

With a quiet voice, eyes lighting up with a mischievous glint, the man says, “That’s definitely a penis.”

_What_?

“A big one,” the man continues, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Like… just a massive cock, y’know?”

Seungcheol couldn’t contain the giggles that bubble up in his stomach. He unconsciously brings a hand to push the man lightly, and they laugh together, getting louder and louder.

In contrast with his soft voice and features, the man laughs like a wheezing old geezer.

Seungcheol notices the stares people around them are giving them, so he wraps it up. He still can’t suppress the tiny giggles that come up from time to time, but he manages to laugh significantly quieter than earlier. He sees the man regain his composure, too, as much as Seungcheol does.

“Can I ask for your name?”

“Joshua. Call me Joshua.”

“Oh,” Seungcheol says. “I didn’t expect a foreign name. I’m Seungcheol.”

“Seungcheol,” the man, Joshua, says, and Seungcheol melts at how he articulates his name like that. “I kind of expected a Korean name.”

They fall into comfortable silence where the two of them just appreciating the penis that they now both see on the huge art piece.

_A dick_, Seungcheol thinks. _And I thought my corndog interpretation is clever enough._

“So,” Seungcheol slips his hands in his pockets as he turns to him and asks, “What made you think of dick?”

Joshua mirrors him, and they stand—face to face—in front of a massive abstract painting of a penis.

It’s not how most people would imagine the beginning of their lasting loves… but for Seungcheol and Joshua, this is how it began.

“Wouldn’t _you_ like to know?”

**Author's Note:**

> THANK U FOR READING
> 
> if you wanna yell at me: [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/shuquishy)
> 
> also im trying to save up and quarantine isn't making that too easy for me soooo my [fanfic comeeshuns](https://fic-comeesh.carrd.co) are open if you’re interested! comeesh me hehe
> 
> you can also buy me a cup of [[coffee](https://fic-comeesh.carrd.co/#ko-fi)] as support (only if it’s coming from the goodness of your heart hehe please don’t feel pressured!) 
> 
> leave a kudos & comment pls pls feedback i love Yum Slurp Slurp


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